Advertisements designed to attract the attention of the purchasing public and enhance the sales of advertised product exist in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Over time, as the public becomes inundated with more advertising, a continuing search has been directed to the development of new advertising methods that can attract the attention of the public and enhance sales and/or product awareness. It is known that movement will attract the human eye, and thus there has been a market in advertising display systems that move as a method of gaining attention of the public. However, typically, devices that enable movement of the attached advertisement have been bulky, expensive, difficult to install, and often difficult to move or change. Devices such as coupon-dispensing devices attract the consumer eye by projecting outwards from a storage device, such as a cooler door, and dispensing coupons or sweepstakes entries that the consumer can then withdraw from the device. However, each dispenser requires a motorized mechanism that is costly, and while is in theory reusable, generally is removed or damaged such that reuse is not possible. Lightweight advertisements designed to move with movement of atmospheric air are generally inexpensive, but generally have a limitation as to size and/or or weight that can be supported by the system while still providing movement sufficient to attract the eye of the purchasing public.
Thus, the need has arisen for systems and methods for implementing a movable advertising display system that is inexpensive, simple, reasonably sized, self-contained, that can support sufficient weight to provide a tear-pad containing multiple documents that consumers can remove for their use, such as a coupon or sweepstakes entry, and can be used in a variety of forms in a variety of locations to attain customer attention and includes all instructions necessary to install and implement the system. This is particularly true for advertising displays that are to be used for short durations of time, such as those containing entries for contests, or advertisements that relate to a particular holiday season or sports season, or price reduction coupons good for a limited period of time, where products that are expensive or require large amounts of time to install are not appropriate for the short time duration the product will have a useful life.
Accordingly, the system of the present invention comprises an advertising system and method that is inexpensive, easy to install, provides for a simple and inexpensive method of providing movement of the advertisement to attain customer attention, and can be produced in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and weights as appropriate to the product being advertised. In particular, the system of the present invention, if attached to a door or price rail of cooler vault or shelf system, will move with movement of the ambient air. This type of movement is such that the notice of the public will be gained. This is particularly true when the goods are stored behind a door, such as a cooler door. When the door is opened to attain access to goods, the advertising system will move asynchronously with the movement of the door, such movement catching the eye of the purchasing public. This is an improvement over a fixed advertising system, such as a sticker affixed to the door that moves with the door.
Significantly, the present invention uniquely provides a method of offering removable data sheets, such as discount coupons or contest entry forms that interested members of the public can remove and carry away with them, while providing a sufficient support system to retain the advertising system at the attachment point while still providing the ability for the system to move in relation to the attachment point such as to attract the attention of the consuming public without the need for a motorized or computerized or other type dispensing system that is expensive.
The present invention, an apparatus for displaying advertising information, comprises a first, or head, portion on which advertising information can be displayed; a third, or support plate portion, that provides adequate strength and size to support the apparatus, and provide means for affixing the apparatus to an object such as a door or in the rail on the front of a store shelving system or cooler door; and a second, or arm portion, connecting the support plate and the head portion that is of a sufficient size and weight to support the first portion while being flexible enough to enable the head portion to move on the arm portion in response to an external force. This self-contained support mechanism provides for a flexible system that moves and additionally can support enough weight to allow for use of a tear-pad on the head portion of the apparatus.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.